February ROOT - Progress Thread

The fountains for February are the Bellagio Fountains!











If you would like to see the fountain show click on this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3v97Vh0h5U

The Fountains of Bellagio opened on October 15, 1998, along with the Bellagio resort. The shows take place in a man-made lake in front of the resort. The attraction was created by the design firm WET. Work began on the attraction in 1995, and it was completed at a cost of $40 million. It was one of the most expensive fountains in the world.

The fountains are among the most photographed places in the United States It was the largest fountain show in the world until The Dubai Fountain, also by WET, was opened in 2009.

More than 240,000 fountain shows had been performed at the Bellagio as of October 2018.

The Fountains of Bellagio have been closed on several occasions, for instance during a three-day power outage at the resort in 2004. Shows are also canceled if winds reach 25 miles per hour. As of 2005, only five shows had ever been canceled because of technical problems. The show was temporarily closed in March 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned two and a half months later.

The fountains are controlled through computer programming. A control room overlooks the lake from a tower, and is staffed by an engineer who pushes a button to commence the fountain show. Water can be shot as high as 460 feet,up from 240 feet when the show debuted. Water is shot up using compressed air at a pressure of up to 500 pounds per square inch. Ten compressors are used to power the fountains. Wind is taken into consideration and the fountains are adjusted if necessary, to keep the show synchronized and prevent pedestrians from getting wet.

The lake is sometimes referred to as Lake Bellagio or Lake Como. The lake is 8.5 acres. It measures 1,200 feet by 600 feet, and its depth ranges from 4 to 13 feet. The lake contains 22 million gallons of water. Water from the resort's aquatic show, O, also drains into the lake.

At Bellagio, what may appear to be a highly consumptive activity, Lake Bellagio is highly water efficient. The iconic Lake Bellagio and fountains use no water from Lake Mead or the Colorado River. Instead, the lake and all Bellagio property irrigation comes from underground wells onsite. This results in the avoidance of municipal potable water equivalent to the annual usage of 5,000 Olympic sized pools.

As with the Trevi Fountain in Rome, coins thrown into Lake Bellagio are retrieved and donated to charity.

Here are the members and their goals so far.
Remember if your name doesn't appear, check to make sure you are a member.

STARS ARE STARTING TO SHINE!

Ameise1 0 / 10 0.0%
AnishaInkspill 10 / 55 ★★ 18.2%
AstroKnight 0 / 12 0.0%
atozgrl 1 / 25 4.0%
benitastarnd 7 / 75 ★ 9.3%
Bookbrained 5 60 ★ 8.3%
brakketh 3 / 29 ★ 10.3%
Caramellunacy 0 / 25 0.0%
Carmenere 2 / 25 8.0%
Cecilturtle 7 / 75 ★ 9.3%
clue 5 / 35 ★ 14.3%
Coach_of_Alva 1 / 25 4.0%
connie53 3 / 36 ★ 8.3%
curioussquared 6 / 60 ★ 10.0%
CurrerBell 5 / 48 ★ 10.4%
cyderry 7 / 72 ★ 9.7%
deep220 1 / 25 4.0%
detailmuse 3 / 40 7.5%
DisassemblyOfReason 4 / 75 5.3%
EGBERTINA 25 / 25 100.0%
Familyhistorian 3 / 65 4.6%
floremolla 3 / 40 7.5%
HelenBaker 5 / 48 ★ 10.4%
Henrik_Madsen 3 / 50 6.0%
Jackie_K 4 / 48 ★ 8.3%
jlaforte 3 / 52 5.8%
kac522 7 / 75 ★ 9.3%
karenmarie 2 / 10 ★★ 20.0%
Kyler_Marie 5 / 60 ★ 8.3%
lindapanzo 10 / 84 ★ 11.9%
madhatter22 3 / 40 7.5%
majkia 12 / 69 ★★ 17.4%
MissWatson 10 / 100 10.0%
Nonconformisto 3 / 15 ★★ 20.0%
nvblue 1 / 50 2.0%
QuestingA 5 / 50 ★ 10.0%
rabbitprincess 6 / 50 ★ 12.0%
Rebeki 2 / 30 6.7%
ritacate 7 / 15 ★★★★★ 46.7%
Robertgreaves 13 / 72 ★★ 18.1%
sallylou61 2 / 36 5.6%
si 1 / 35 2.9%
torontoc 1 / 30 3.3%
twogreys 3 / 24 ★ 12.5%
wandaly 4 / 25 ★ 16.0%
weemanda 1 / 20 5.0%

EGBERTINA shows as having reached her goal already, maybe I have some number wrong?

The goal for February is 337.

>1 cyderry:. Thanks for setting up the thread so promptly. I expected you would set it up later this month since you are about to go on a cruise. Have a wonderful trip.

I too was surprised to find the February thread already up. I assumed you would be too busy with trip preparations, Chèli, to get this up before you left. Have a fabulous vacation!

I have finished my first ROOT for February, second for the year. It should have been finished in January, but I just had too many interruptions last month. My personal ticker has been updated.

I saw the Bellagio fountain show once and will never go back to see it again. The whole time I watched it, I kept thinking about what a great waste of water it was. The reason - the lake. I was there in the summer and the evaporation rate for an 8.5 acre lake in 100 degree F temperatures had to be huge. The water for Las Vegas comes from the Colorado River, and my problem with the Bellagio fountains is that they shouldn't be wasting the water by shooting it 80 feet into the air on days when the temperature are high and humidity low. Especially since cities down the river all the way to the Gulf of California are suffering from a lack of water and the Southwest US is in the middle of a long term drought.

I do concede that they are pretty.

As I was travelling 31/1 and 1/2, I didn't have a chance to report on my ROOTs for January. My total was 13 ROOTs, equals 62% of books read. Hope you have a great trip Chèli.

>5 benitastrnad: What I found interesting was that "Lake Bellagio and fountains use no water from Lake Mead or the Colorado River. Instead, the lake and all Bellagio property irrigation comes from underground wells onsite. " The local area isn't affected by the fountain.

>1 cyderry: Spectacular!

Also reporting my first ROOT of the month! Admittedly, it was a short and fluffy cozy mystery.

I finished my first ROOT of February! I unknowingly reread a book I finished in the 20teens. I thought it seemed very familiar to me. hahaha

I wrote up 3 ROOTs for January but read another 3 which I haven't counted yet. Hoping to do better going forward.

Sorry, Chèli. I don't know when or if you'll see this but my January total was 13 ROOTs, not 10.

>9 Carmenere: I've done that - lol!

Gorgeous choice, Chèli! Several years ago, I saw the show while having brunch at the Bellagio. It was a super fun meal. Las Vegas is such a trip!

>1 cyderry:. Apologies Cheli. I am only just updating my January numbers. I am 7/48. Have a fabulous cruise. I hope you see some fountains to show us and get some reading time too.

>2 cyderry: My goal is actually 60 for this year :)

Adding my first ROOT for February (actually I finished it in January but only managed to add it to my ticker today). This is ROOT #5 for the year to date.

Reporting ROOT # 4 for the year, # 1 for Februari

Blackout - Connie Willis

Own tickers updated.

>1 cyderry: absolutely gorgeous photos, enjoy!!!

I've added my second ROOT for February (#6 for the year to date) to my own ticker.

Just finished my second ROOT of February and #4 for the year.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. I give this one 5 stars.

I finished my first ROOT for February. This one was Fourth Part of the World by Toby Lester and it was so good that I put it on my list of Best Books I Have Read for 2025! Who knew maps could be that interesting.

I continue to make progress. 3 roots for Febbruary so far, Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa, Tin Man by Sarah Winman and Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. I really enjoyed all three books.

>21 HelenBaker: I've only read one book by Sarah Winman, Still Life. I need to check out the others! Oh, I just went over and looked at reviews and see you've read it! I thought it was soooo good!

I've completed 13 ROOTs for February, much different than the 3 I posted in January.

other roots read this month:
You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories
Bring Up the Bodies
Brief Answers to the Big Questions

Reporting ROOT # 5 for the year, # 2 for Februari

All Clear - Connie Willis

Own tickers updated.

>25 connie53: How was it? I read the author's Doomsday Book recently, set in the same universe but the time traveller accidentally gets sent to the time of the Black Death.

>26 Robertgreaves: It was great, 5 stars for me. You first have to read Blackout before All clear

My review is in my thread.

I've added ROOT #3 for February (#7 for the year to date) to my own ticker only.

First ROOT for Feb and second for the year. The review is on my thread. No tickers updated

>22 clue: That was my favourite book the year that I read it. Just beautiful.
2 more roots for the month,The Call by Gavin Strawhan and Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout taking me to 12/48. A much better start this year.

Only two ROOTS for February, A Father's Tale and Lost in Peter's Tomb. Total is 9/15 now.

I have finished 10 ROOTs this month and may be able to add one more tomorrow.

I'm aiming for 3 more ROOTs in February for a year total of 10.

Two very recent ROOTs this month, taking my total to 2/40 for the year so far. All tickers updated.

ROOTs read were Orbital by Samantha Harvey and The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. Both were audiobooks.

Here is my report for February 2025:

UpROOTED books: 8
ROOTless books: 6
Added to the treebook TBR shelves: 2

The ROOTs were:

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch
Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers
The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe
Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie
Arcadia by Iain Pears
The Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

ROOTs in YTD: 21 (60% of books this year have been ROOTs)

Personal ticker updated

>32 MissWatson: Actually, I finished two books, and my tally now is 22.

It was a poor reading month for me. ROOT's for February are only 4. That's all I had.

Here is the breakdown
Nonfiction: Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name by Toby Lester

Fiction: Great Fortune by Olivia Manning - first book in the Balkan Trilogy
System Collapse by Martha Wells - book 7 in the Murderbot Diaries

Recorded Books: The Nix by Nathan Hill

I finished 3 ROOTs this month, for a total of 4 for the year. Two of the ROOTs were Big Fat Books, so I have gotten some significant reading done, even if the total number of books is not so great yet.

My personal ticker has been updated.

Just getting in under the wire with my third for this month, which gives me a goal (but just a goal) of 8/48. Still, I've got the satisfaction that I made it, considering the book I just finished a few minutes ago was Stendhal's Red and Black in a Norton Critical Edition, so that with the supplemental materials it's also a Big Fat Book. And red and black tie in with the Color theme for February's Reading Through Time theme.

And ugh, I only gave Red and Black 2**. My NCE is an old edition, 1969 (and Norton only started the NCE series in 1961), so old in fact that it's hardcover w/dj! I found the novel itself tedious; and most of the supplemental materials were even more tedious, that kind of highly philosophized meandering that French critics, I think, can sometimes be guilty of. (It even included a few Sartrean paragraphs from Being and Nothingness.)

I do want to give Stendhal's other works a try, the novels (especially Charterhouse of Parma), which I've got in a single Kindle version, along with The Life of Henry Brulard, prior to going on to a Stendhal biography I've long had sitting around. It all does fit in with my Vive la France project.

Anyway, here's hoping I get a little ahead of the game in March. I think I may be doing some middle reader books, which should be quick reads.

Up to 10 ROOTs for the year. My ticker is up to date :)

I've finished one more ROOT but it's the beginning of March so I'm going to keep it off my ticker until Cheli has crunched the February numbers. So my February total is 3 ROOTs, or 7 overall for the year.

I read 5 ROOTS for February, a total of 11 for the year.

Reporting ROOT # 6 for the year, # 1 for March

De nomade - Anya Niewierra

Own tickers updated.

MY APOLOGIES!

We have been having wildfires in the area and it has completely distracted me from doing the new thread!

I've gathered the numbers and hopefully will finish tonight.

I hope you and yours are keeping safe, Chèli

We're currently safe but I didn't get the thread done.
Hopefully, tomorrow.

Thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/369072#